MOVES-Chinese refiner Hengli hires crude trader in Singapore

SINGAPORE, Aug 27 (Reuters) - Chinese private refiner Hengli Group and its partner state-owned Sinochem Corp have hired a crude oil trader at their Singapore office ahead of Hengli’s refinery start-up in the fourth quarter, several trade sources said on Monday.

Former Itochu trader Kevin Ng will be joining Hengli Oilchem in October to procure crude oil and trade derivatives, they said.

Hengli OilChem, 80 percent owned by Hengli and 20 percent by Sinochem, officially opened in Singapore in June and is responsible for procuring crude, selling products and petrochemicals and conducting third-party trading.

Hengli has so far bought Brazilian and Saudi crude for trial runs at its new refinery expected in October.

The 400,000 barrels-per-day (bpd) refinery in the northeastern port city of Dalian will be one of the five largest refineries in China and a major crude oil buyer.